Fresh Cherry Pie with a Buttery Cream Cheese Crust

-----------------------------------CRUST----------------------------------- 1 c Unsalted butter; soft

4 oz Cream cheese; soft

2 1/2 c All purpose flour

1 ts Cinnamon

----------------------------------FILLING---------------------------------- 3 c Fresh pitted cherries

2 1/2 tb Minute tapioca

1/8 ts Salt

6 tb Granulated sugar

1/4 ts Almond extract

Cream together butter and cream cheese with mixer until thoroughly blended. Using a pastry blender, cut in flour til it looks like it may hold together if you squeezed some or it into a ball. Stop. It`s done. (If you overmix, it will be tough). Chill well. When chilled, cut in half, using one half of the dough to pat into a 9 inch glass pie dish. Chill again. Filling: Combine all the ingredients for the filling and let stand for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, take reserved dough and place between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Roll out large enough for top crust. Pour cherry filling into pie dish and top with rolled crust. Make attractive slits and bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

From the personal MM recipe database of Sandy Gamble <[email protected]>

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